Biz Break: Will Zendesk success unclog the IPO pipeline?

Zendesk CEO & Founder Mikkel Svane rings the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on May 15, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Dario Cantatore/NYSE Euronext)

Today: Zendesk pricing and first-day pop show strength, which could prompt Box and others to make the IPO leap. Also: Wall Street plummets, but Cisco gains.

The Lead: Zendesk jumps in first trading day, are more to come?

Silicon Valley technology companies that have prepared for initial public offerings have stayed on the sidelines as tech stocks have been bludgeoned on Wall Street over the past two months, but the performance of San Francisco's Zendesk could bring an end to that trend.

"Our IPO has never had a set date," a Box spokesman told the Mercury News earlier this month. "Since filing, we've planned on going when it makes the most sense for the market. That plan hasn't changed."

That path has given Silicon Valley tech companies a cash cushion that allows them to avoid going public out of pure need for cash, an untenable position that can lead to a smaller cash haul. It has also allowed for record valuations, the latest evidence of which arrived Thursday afternoon, when Bloomberg News reported that San Francisco transportation app Uber is shooting for a $10 billion valuation in its next round of financing, which would tie records recently set by AirBnB and Dropbox.

Despite the riches that can be had in private financing, though, the public markets are still a draw, and the IPO market is still attracting Silicon Valley tech companies that could be hitting Wall Street soon.

"There's still an appetite," Brent Gledhill, global head of investment banking for William Blair, said. "We still see IPOs being successful. We're still getting them done. There's just a higher bar."

SV150 market report: Wall Street plunges, Cisco gains after earnings

Wall Street suffered as Zendesk prospered Thursday, as the Dow Jones industrial average had its largest one-day drop in more than a month. Silicon Valley tech stocks outperformed the overall market, though, thanks to a strong post-earnings performance from Cisco Systems.